John & Anne Wiley

2011/09/11

McCall to Chelan

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,Smiley Adventure — John @ 07:57

After the short and pleasant hop from Cascade to McCall we stopped for lunch and a leisurely look at the town near the airport. Then back into Tripp for a takeoff over the lake, where our zoom lens picked up this ski boat towing someone on a flotation device of some kind (shown in the version on my Photo Page). But here’s a crop at full resolution where I can make out people watching from the boat. I get the sense of adults taking great care while the person being towed is having a great carefree thrill. It just says “family fun” to me in a loving way.

4188 Boatload of Love

4188 Boatload of Love

The lake wanders back into the foothills and then wraps around, with a lovely swamp in the middle.

4192 Heart of Lk. Payette

4192 Heart of Lk. Payette

While most of the lake is patrolled by speeding boats and jetskis, there are quiet corners that remind me of solitude in a silent canoe.

4194 Quiet Shore

4194 Quiet Shore

We followed the Salmon River for quite a way, and going thru the pix again just now I found this one that includes people in at least four different boats taking turns enjoying the rapids.

4265 Whitewater Boating

4265 Whitewater Boating

I was predictably fascinated by this rock dome, and wondered if it had been the core of a small volcano standing fast as the wandering river flattened the surrounding land.

4327 Steadfast Dome

4327 Steadfast Dome

Anne snapped this last one as we were lining up to land in the variable winds. At the right is a large apple orchard that we strolled in the morning light. Beyond it where the white hangars are in shadow was a grassy spot designated for “fly camping” (tent next to the plane). Beyond the end of the runway you can just make out the highway that winds past the mountain to the town and lake we toured briefly at dusk.

0362 Local Layout

0362 Local Layout

In the warm night we lay on our backs with only the tent’s mesh skylight between our contemplative eyes and the starry night.

2011/09/10

Cascade

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Smiley Adventure — John @ 01:13

Not far from Stanley we had a planned stop at Cascade to check on a minor fix for Tripp (nose strut losing pressure), and it was quite a delight. Approaching the airport (just above middle, running diagonally up from the right) the snaking iridescent river was striking.

4166 Follow The River Up

4166 Follow The River Up

It seemed to change moment to moment as the sun angle, reflected sky, depth of the river, and varied colors of sand all shifted.

4170 Sand Bar Camping

4170 Sand Bar Camping

The people we met at the airport repair shop were especially mellow, friendly and helpful so we wished time allowed more exploration of the small town nearby. Instead we took off and did a slow climb up the river past the town, and were surprised to see the rapids right at the edge of town.

4171 Rapids Ride

4171 Rapids Ride

People with all sorts of flotation devices would ride the cascade, paddle over to the bank, walk back upstream on the right, and do it all again. A fun and friendly town with an apparently free built-in water slide. As we passed the end of the lake headed North, many inlets presented beautiful patterns of water, land and lifeforms.

4179 Patterns Of Life

4179 Patterns Of Life

I love how much variation there is in seemingly identical land, driven by subtle differences. Nearby the water itself was a glorious artwork.

4181 Water Art

4181 Water Art

2011/09/08

Apex Flight

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,Smiley Adventure — John @ 03:11

After just two nights at Smiley Creek, it felt like we’d been enjoying the serene beauty in this area forever. Partly due to the people and scenery I guess, and partly “prop advance.” That phenomenon we’ve frequently noticed, that seems the opposite of “jet lag.” With the latter you can feel exhausted and confused, and many people say you lose at least a day. With prop advance, you feel exhilarated and invariably seem to gain at least a day. So when we woke in Smiley and I went flying to meet the gals in Stanley, it truly felt as if puttering around the teepee at sunup had been the day before we met at the airport. Since I flew several times every day, it was even stronger and was then compounded by scenery like this.

4098 Redfish Finger

4098 Redfish Finger

Wasn’t it at least a week since we’d met Julie’s friends on the shore of Redfish Lake? Doesn’t looking at the Sawtooths reflected in the deep blue water take the observer out of chronos time to wander in reverie? When we flew up to look at the headwaters of the Salmon River back beyond Smiley, I was flashed back in time to 20-something wilderness hikes in Canada.

4109 Salmon River Headwaters

4109 Salmon River Headwaters

When we flew back past Redfish again climbing to leave the valley, wind patterns on the water seemed to wave a slow motion farewell.

4131 Redfish Reflection

4131 Redfish Reflection

As we looked back at the Sawtooth Mountains a few minutes later, Sawtooth Lake seemed to be waving too.

4150 Sawtooth Lake Farewell

4150 Sawtooth Lake Farewell

Time is such a fleeting thing. A young man wandering the wilderness becomes an old man flying over it. Strong friendships form, and are broken when one departs. People and places we love come and go, and it all passes in reflections on the river of Time.

2011/09/06

High Road to Stanley

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Smiley Adventure,Tripp — John @ 08:31

I’m looking at the pix from 8/18 and am again flying solo from Smiley to Stanley and back. Here are a few more pix from that day, overflowing with Sawtooth scenes high among the mountains that will return yet again in my dreams tonight. First up, a spike of rock guarding a valley of slumbering little lakes.

3988 Shepherd Spire

3988 Shepherd Spire

Now a baby lake hiding above the dominant one that has attracted a large congregation of trees, and the attention of all the nearby peaks.

4021 Peekaboo Lake

4021 Peekaboo Lake

Variations in color deep in this next one makes it for me a translucent smooth gemstone set among the sharp stones.

4026 Flat Gem

4026 Smooth Gem

I just love how clearly the patch of snow was reflected in the deep blue of a long lake that drains in a long cascade at the right. It’s diminutive companion at the left has such delicate shadings from green to blue.

4037 Peaceful Blue Lake

4037 Peaceful Blue Lake

It takes me back to a meditation I once did on the theme of a peaceful blue lake. The one I imagined was much like this, though in less rugged terrain. After a long and relaxing look at this refreshing sight, I turned toward Stanley which is reputed to be one of the coldest places in the continental U.S. (-57F record according to wiki). I decided to descend in a circle over the airport and check out the wind and the runway (running diagonally up from the bottom-right). I knew there had been recent pavement work at one end, but not whether that portion was yet open, so I decided to make my first landing on gravel.

4057 Stanley, ID

4057 Stanley, ID

Gravel has a lumpy bumpy surface like grass landing strips, without the cushion effect but with plenty of loose rocks to ding our beloved Tripp. Propellers in particular are vulnerable, so I took great care with all the precautions for operating aircraft on gravel and Tripp didn’t get a single nick. I met up with Anne, and we posed for this scenic shot taken by the pilot of another plane. If the jeep hadn’t been parked there, this would be one of my fav pix from the trip and perhaps my fav of Tripp. As it is, my eye invariably goes to the jeep and now I’ve probably ruined it for you too.

4064 Zen Imperfection

4064 Zen Imperfection

As with a Tibetan sand painting, that small flaw amid the grandeur is an important contribution. Shall I meditate on that, or photoshop it out for our holiday greeting card? 🙂

2011/09/05

Smiley Rerun

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,Smiley Adventure,Tripp — John @ 05:25

Today’s review of our zillion photos from this last trip has reached our arrival at Smiley Creek, ID. Yesterday we left off with rapids as we neared Bend, OR and though we of course have plenty of pix from there they are somewhat hazy due to a big fire near Boise. Instead I’ll start off with our entrance to the Sawtooth Mountains along a pass from the West toward Stanley, ID.

3871 West of Stanley

3871 West of Stanley

Normally a scene like this would be remarkable enough to merit lots of pix, and it does show one of the two or three large light-colored peaks we saw in the area. From a distance we thought they were much taller and covered with snow or glaciers. I even double-checked my route, because the aeronautical charts didn’t show any really tall mountains there. But in this same area were some stunning alpine lakes.

3880 Alpine Lakes

3880 Alpine Lakes

We saw innumerable pristine lakes like this, and many were clearly carved from solid rock by glaciers. Though the smoke diminished quite a bit as we flew East along the pass, by now on both sides were massive rows upon rows of jagged peaks extending into the hazy distance.

3884 Sawtooth Mountains

3884 Sawtooth Mountains

I was quite happy to follow roads through wide valleys, though many pilots explore deep into these vast mountain ranges. Many of the peaks are extremely jagged, as you can see in this snap of Anne’s.

0702 Jagged Peaks

0702 Jagged Peaks

After we turned South along the valley from Stanley to Smiley Creek enjoying breathtaking vast vistas that pics don’t show well due to haze and low sun angle, Anne snapped this as I lined up for my first grass strip landing.

0718 First Grass

0718 First Grass

Along with a nice view back up the valley, it shows how well-tended this strip is. Tripp loved landing on the grass, because it’s like a giant pillow. It makes landings very gentle and smooth, eliminating any trace of that “chirp” of tires meeting pavement as they scuff away expensive rubber getting up to speed, and the soft turf quickly slows the plane without using brakes. Such a delightful airport this is! Just a few steps across the highway is the store, restaurant & coffee shop, ice cream parlor, campsite, and the heated teepee we would enjoy that night.

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